Man Ray created this self-portrait in Paris, intending for it to appear on the cover of a book of his photographs. A bronze cast of his face, wearing the artist’s glasses, mocks the tradition of memorializing great men with death masks. The cast is cushioned in newsprint like a corpse in a coffin. Autoportrait suggests an artist entombed in his reputation and belies Man Ray’s brave assertion “I simply try to be as free as possible … The work is done. I have total freedom.“
Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
- Title
-
Autoportrait
- Artist
- Date
- 1933
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 14 x 8 1⁄4 x 5 3⁄8 in. (35.6 x 21.1 x 13.7 cm.)
- Credit Line
-
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of Juliet Man Ray
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- mixed media: bronze, glass, wood, and newsprint
- Classifications
- Keywords
-
- Occupation – art – painter
- Occupation – art – photographer
- Dress – accessory – eye wear
- Portrait male – Man Ray – head
- Portrait male – Man Ray – self-portrait
- Occupation – art – sculptor
- Object Number
-
1983.105.2
- Palette
- Linked Open Data
- Linked Open Data URI
